The invention relates to a wall outlet electrical receptacle and more specifically to a lockable wall outlet electrical receptacle.
Conventional wall outlet electrical receptacles do not have any structure for locking them to the male electrical plug that is found on the end of an electrical cord of an electrical appliance or electrical tool. When a vacuum cleaner is used either in the home or a workplace; the male electrical plug will generally pull out of the wall outlet electrical receptacle several times during operation. Likewise when someone is using an electrical tool while they are moving about, its male electrical plug will often pull out of the wall outlet electrical receptacle.
The Alemaghides U.S. Pat. No. 2,454,024; the Cohen U.S. Pat. No. 2,792,561; the Horwinski U.S. Pat. No. 3,997,225; and the Lee U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,584 disclose multiple electrical receptacle units adapted to be attached to a wall-mount receptacle. None of these disclose structure for locking the male electrical plug of a tool or appliance to the wall outlet electrical receptacle unit.
The Ballmer U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,409 discloses a releasable locking means for a two-part electrical connector member for preventing the accidental separation of the two body members when they are joined in electrical engagement. The use of the releasable locking means requires that one of the blade prongs on the male electrical plug have a cutaway portion thereby making it non-operational with a conventional male electrical plug.
The Sowers U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,493 discloses an electrical connection between the male connector on an electrical cord and a female electrical connector either on the end of an1 electrical cord or in an electrical outlet socket. Necessary structure for this device to operate requires that the ground prong have a notch therein and this structure therefore would not work with a conventional male electrical plug.
It is an object of the invention to provide a novel wall outlet electrical receptacle that has a locking mechanism for securing the male electrical plug of an electrical appliance or tool thereto.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel lockable wall outlet electrical receptacle that is economical to manufacture and market.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel lockable wall outlet electrical receptacle that does not require any modification to the blade prongs of a conventional male electrical plug.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel lockable wall outlet electrical receptacle that allows a male electrical plug to be quickly and easily locked therein or released therefrom.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel lockable wall outlet electrical that eliminates the danger of a partial pullout of a male electrical plug in areas frequented by small children.
The lockable wall outlet electrical receptacle has a housing having a front wall surface, a rear wall surface, a top wall surface, a bottom wall surface, a left side wall surface and a right side wall surface. An upper and a lower pair of laterally spaced electrical plug apertures are formed in the front wall surface of the housing. Each pair of electrical plug apertures has its own ground prong aperture.
Extending inwardly from each of the electrical plug apertures is a channel and in these channels are mounted the respective left blade prong terminal, the right blade prong terminal and the ground prong terminal. The respective rear ends of these members are electrically connected to electrical wire connection terminals on the outside of the housing. A transversely extending horizontally oriented upper shaft member and horizontally oriented lower shaft member are journaled in the housing at a predetermined height above the respective left and right blade prong terminals. Each of the shafts has a transversely extending groove formed in its outer periphery at a position above one of the blade prong terminals. This transversely extending groove aligns with one of the blade prongs of a male electrical plug so that it can be freely inserted or withdrawn from the respective electrical plug apertures when the shaft is in its unlocked position. Rotation of the respective shafts allows an edge on the shafts to press downwardly upon the top edge of one of the male blade prongs and locks it within the housing of the wall outlet electrical receptacle. Instead of a transversely extending groove, a cam surface may be utilized at the same position on the shaft. Additionally the channels into which a male blade prong is inserted may have ridges or teeth extending upwardly therefrom to frictionally contact the bottom edge of the male blade prong and provide more gripping power.
The front ends of the respective shaft members may be attached to different types structures for actuating the locking mechanism that rotates the respective shafts at the same time.